Fire Wife Preppers

Feb. 6, 2012
If being a prepper is crazy then I take solace in my own insanity. I have peace of mind knowing that in a hurricane, we have plans, food, and water and we'll be okay without panicking or depending on anyone else to meet our needs

A friend recently sent me a link to the National Geographic channel's Doomsday Preppers series, jokingly asking if we are going to be in it. Nope. Not interested, thanks. I completely understand why these people prep though. Just three decades ago, I would go to my grandparents' house and make use of their preps, like canned foods, stored water, a greenhouse full of plants, pecan trees in the yard and enough extra toilet paper and napkins to stock an aircraft carrier. They always looked towards the future and were prepared for anything that may come, good or bad. I now have to wonder, when did people stop thinking that way?

As for me, I do prep, in a sense. I think it would be just plain ridiculous not to. I am a mother of three, married to a firefighter, living in a coastal area. Every summer, hurricane tracking is a minor sport around here. If it looks like one might skirt us and throw some rain and blessed relief from the oppressive heat our way, we get together with friends, cook up some food and party like it's 1999. If it looks like a hurricane might actually make a direct hit on us though, I need to be smart and ready to deal with things, on my own.

The part-time single parent life that most fire wives live is glaringly obvious at times like this. If a hurricane is bearing down on our area, guess who goes to work? Now guess who gets to take care of the kids, pets, house, etc. on her own? That would be me. When that point comes, I refuse to be one of the crazy masses, dragging my kids through the mayhem of barren grocery store shelves, just trying to make sure we have food and drinks for a couple days. Instead, we always have food and water on hand to hold us over for at least a couple weeks. We also have a plan in place as to what things I need to take with me, where to take the pets and how the kids and I will evacuate.

If being a prepper is crazy then I take solace in my own insanity. I have peace of mind knowing that in a hurricane, we have plans, food, and water and we'll be okay without panicking or depending on anyone else to meet our needs. In a power outage, we will turn things into a camping adventure, cook over a fire in the yard and bust out the flashlights and ghost stories. If a water main explodes and shuts down our water supply, we will be okay because we are already ready for any of these scenarios.

My grandparents were always ready for whatever may come, so why would I not do the same? Why should you not do the same? Pick any scenario that is most likely to happen to you; maybe an ice storm in the Northeast, a hurricane along the coast, an earthquake in California, or an illness or job loss that stops your family in its tracks for a while. Whatever you choose, get ready to ride out your personal storm with enough food, water, and plans to carry you safely to the other side. This way, whether your husband is working to take care of others or home helping take care of your family, you know when the time comes, you will be prepared too.

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